KUALA LUMPUR: The FBM KLCI tracked most other Asian markets and headed for its fifth consecutive day of losses as key banking stocks weighed.
The 30-stock index dipped 0.31 points to 1,770.73. On the broader market, 406 counters declined while 193 advanced and 469 remained unchanged. Turnover was 1.32 billion shares with a value of RM988.28mil.
At 12.30pm, Maybank was down nine sen to RM9.76, RHB fell 15 sen to RM5.15 and CIMB was down five sen to RM6.30. AMMB also fell eight sen to RM4.42 while Hong Leong shaved two sen to RN15.88.
Telco counters fared better with Axiata rising three sen to RM5.11, Digi rising five sen to RM4.92 and Maxis gaining four sen to RM5.80. Telekom Malaysia rose three sen to RM6.40.
Oil prices were little changed and kept most of their gains from the previous session to hold near their highest levels in months as major producers meeting in Vienna said the market was well on its ways towards rebalancing, reports Reuters.
WTI Crude went 12 cents lower to US$50.54 a barrel and Brent Crude lost six cents to US$56.80 a barrel.
On Bursa, Petronas Chemicals was up six sen to RM7.36, Petronas Dagangan rose four sen to RM24.26 and Petronas Gas proved to be the biggest gainer in morning trade, jumping 48 sen to RM18.50.
Decliners on the market included MPI, which fell 22 sen to RM13.44, Ajimomoto down 20 sen to RM20.34 and VIS down 19 sen to RM1.13.
Gainers included BAT, up 18 sen to RM44.18, Hong Leong Industries, up 17 sen to RM9.70 and Magni-Tech Industries, up 17 sen to RM6.30.
On the forex market, the ringgit weakened 0.11% against the US dollar to 4.1933 and 0.32% against the pound sterling at 5.6775. It strengthened 0.01% against the Singapore dollar at 3.114.
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